Alabama

Fashion Ambush: Danielle Tate of Pleasant Grove, Alabama

Danielle Tate made her birthday party entrance in this silver dress. ( Special / PhotoShoot)

Who: Danielle Tate, 16, of Pleasant Grove. She's in 11th grade and on the A/B Honor Roll at Pleasant Grove High School. Her cheerleading squad recently came in eighth in the nation at the National High School Cheerleading Championship in Orlando. Her squad is also the 5A state champs in cheering for the second year in a row. Her parents are Daniel and Melva Tate.

Caught: At her Sweet 16 birthday party, which had a safari theme.

What are you wearing? She wore two outfits to her party. She made her entrance in a silver, one-shoulder Cachet dress her father bought her online. She later changed into a zebra-print dress by Wishes that she found on overstock.com. She wore black Steve Madden pumps from Burlington Coat Factory with both dresses, a necklace that was a birthday gift from her mother and small stud earrings from Walmart. Her aunt, Joycelyn Pullom, did her hair.

It didn't look like you had on makeup. You don't wear makeup? "No ma'am, I don't. I feel like it takes too much time in the morning."

Other girls your age wear it. You don't feel the pressure to wear it, too? "Some people think I wear makeup because my skin is so clear. I tell them I just don't wear makeup."

What did you like about the zebra-print dress? "It was comfortable. I could dance in it."

When did you get it? "Maybe two weeks before the party. It was a last-minute one."

Were you just not finding what you wanted, which is why there was a delay in getting it? "We had bought the silver dress probably a month or two in advance, and I was like, I didn't want to dance in this because it was a little heavy. So we got the other one."

Danielle danced all night in her zebra-print dress, which was her second and last dress change for the evening. (Special / PhotoShoot)

Describe your style. "I love to dress comfortably but also cute. So one day I may have on a cute top and Converse. My mom always gets on me about that."

What does she want you to wear? Dresses? "She just wants me to dress up more. But I tell her I dress up a lot."

Do you have any fashion icons? "I really don't. I just do my own thing.''

Prom is coming up. Do you know what you will wear? "I'm not going to prom. I really didn't want to pay all of that money to dance. I said I'd throw a big house party for all of the non-prom goers."

So are more teens not going to prom because of the price? "Some people said that. Other people said they didn't want to go because they didn't have anybody to go with."

So what will be the dress code for your non-prom house party? "Anything you want to come in."

Even a prom dress? "Even a prom dress if they want to. I don't know how comfortable they will be in that, but I'll accept it."

TELL US!

Know someone with a flair for fashion? Send their name, contact information and a photo that represents their style to ctemple@bhamnews.com.